Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is seeking a political comeback with an ambitious vision for the Middle East: expanding the Abraham Accords, building economic partnerships with Arab nations and rebuilding Israel's strained international relationships, particularly with the United States.
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Bennett → seek → States
For Bennett, whose American parents moved to Israel from San Francisco, the U.S. connection is both personal and political.
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connection → move → Francisco
The 54-year-old former technology entrepreneur, a familiar face on American television, believes his business background could help him work with President Donald Trump to advance regional diplomacy.
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him → believe → diplomacy
"He was a businessman, not a career politician, same as me," Bennett told The Times of Israel in June, referring to Trump.
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Bennett → tell → Trump
"His worldview is, let's get stuff done.
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stuff → let → ?
Let's look at results, not process.
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's → look → results
Bennett said he would aggressively pursue regional agreements through economic cooperation, seeking to build on the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords.
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he → say → Accords
But while his ambitions overlap with Trump's regional agenda, the president endorsed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for re-election on Oct. 18.
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president → overlap → Oct.
Bennett also faces an unusual political challenge at home.
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Bennett → face → home
His joint Beyachad, or Together, party with former Prime Minister Yair Lapid is polling behind both Netanyahu's Likud and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party.
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party → poll → Likud
A Channel 12 poll published Oct. 23 projected 23 Knesset seats for Eisenkot, 21 for Netanyahu and 15 for Bennett and Lapid.
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poll → publish → Bennett
Yet Bennett knows better than most Israeli politicians that leading the largest party is not necessary to become prime minister.
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leading → know → party
In 2021, he took office despite his Yamina party winning just seven of the Knesset's 120 seats, demonstrating the power of coalition negotiations in Israel's parliamentary system.
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party → take → system
How a seven-seat leader became prime minister
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leader → become → ?
Born in Haifa to American immigrants, Bennett served in Israel's elite Sayeret Matkal and Maglan military units before co-founding cybersecurity company Cyota, which was sold for $145 million in 2005.
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which → bear → 2005
He entered politics as Netanyahu's chief of staff, later led the Yesha Council representing West Bank settlements and served as economy, education and defense minister.
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He → enter → minister
A religious Zionist and longtime opponent of Palestinian statehood, Bennett stunned Israel's political establishment in 2021 when he formed a coalition spanning right-wing, centrist, left-wing and Arab parties, ending Netanyahu's 12 consecutive years in power.
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he → stun → power
The coalition collapsed in 2022, leaving many former supporters accusing him of betraying his electoral promises.
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supporters → collapse → promises
Einat Halevy Levin, a strategic advisor who has known Bennett for years, described a politician who has spent his time outside office preparing for a second opportunity.
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who → know → opportunity
"In 2021, he wasn't prepared.
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he → prepare → 2021
He hadn't built a governing party; he had built another election campaign," Halevy Levin told Fox News Digital.
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Levin → build → Digital
She said she met Bennett at his home in November 2023, following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, when he had decided to return to politics.
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he → say → politics
This time, according to Halevy Levin, Bennett spent years building a political organization, carefully screening candidates and developing the infrastructure needed to govern.
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Bennett → accord → infrastructure
"I've known him since he was economy minister.
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he → know → him
He was always daring and full of creative ideas, but was more inclined to stick to his own views," she said.
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she → stick → views
"He has undergone a transformation."
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He → undergo → transformation
A new Middle East vision meets old divisions
Bennett's regional ambitions reflect an approach to diplomacy shaped by his business experience, according to Halevy Levin.
She recalled attending a meeting with a senior official from a neighboring country who appeared astonished by Bennett's detailed knowledge of its economy and priorities.
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who → meet → economy
"He wasn't looking at the country through a military lens," she said, describing Bennett's focus on identifying shared economic interests rather than approaching every regional relationship primarily as a security challenge.
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she → look → challenge
In an interview with Israel's Channel 13 on Sunday, two days before the election, Bennett pointed to his meetings as prime minister with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Jordan's King Abdullah II and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed as examples of the diplomacy he hopes to revive.
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he → point → diplomacy
He argued that Israel needs to present a new vision of a Middle Eastern renaissance and identified extremist settler violence in the West Bank as a major source of damage to its international standing.
"We need to eliminate Jewish terrorism in Judea and Samaria, and I say this precisely as a supporter of the settlement movement," Bennett said.
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Bennett → argue → movement
"They do not represent the overwhelming majority of settlers, but right now this is the problem causing us the greatest damage internationally."
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this → represent → damage
Bennett said he would direct Israel's senior police, military and intelligence officials to produce a plan within three days to crack down on extremist violence.
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he → say → violence
His foreign policy, however, remains firmly on the Israeli right.
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policy → remain → right
On Iran, Bennett has promoted his "Octopus Doctrine," advocating direct action against Tehran rather than focusing exclusively on Iranian-backed groups.
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Bennett → promote → groups
"If Hezbollah fires at us, we strike Iran," he declared at an Aug. 19 policy conference.
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he → fire → conference
On Gaza, Bennett opposes Palestinian statehood and supports maintaining Israeli security control until Hamas is disarmed.
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Hamas → oppose → control
He has also proposed excluding Qatar and Turkey from Gaza's future arrangements while involving Egypt.
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He → propose → Egypt
Those positions raise questions about how significantly his government would depart from Netanyahu's policies.
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government → raise → policies
Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and former head of the Iran branch in Israeli military intelligence, argued that restoring Israel's diplomatic standing requires more than a change in leadership.
"If Bennett thinks he can support annexing E1 (an area east of Jerusalem where planned Israeli settlement construction could further fragment the West Bank), oppose a Palestinian state, continue the occupation of Gaza and simultaneously meet with Sisi and Abdullah and attract investment to Israel, he simply doesn't understand the depth of the international crisis," Citrinowicz said.
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Citrinowicz → argue → crisis
Citrinowicz argued that without a fundamental change in Israeli policy toward the Palestinians, replacing Netanyahu would not be sufficient to restore the country's international standing.
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replacing → argue → standing
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
